Sanders and Clinton spar over presidential qualifications

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, campaigning with borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. of the Bronx, said she will trust New York voters.

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, campaigning with borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. of the Bronx, said she will trust New York voters.

Photo: Andrew Renneisen /

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After back-to-back wins in six states since March 22, Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders faces a daunting primary in New York on April 19.

After back-to-back wins in six states since March 22, Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders faces a daunting primary in New York on April 19.

Photo: DOMINICK REUTER / AFP /Getty Images

Sanders and Clinton spar over presidential qualifications

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Tension flared in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday, with each candidate questioning the other’s fitness to lead and Sen. Bernie Sanders pressing his attack that Hillary Clinton is not qualified to be president.

After weeks of subtle sniping, the frustration first boiled over at a rally in Philadelphia on Wednesday night when Sanders took issue with recent criticism over his understanding of financial regulation policy and assailed Clinton from multiple angles.

He intensified the attacks Thursday, saying of Clinton, “People might wonder about your qualifications when you supported virtually every trade agreement — trade agreements which have cost the American worker millions of decent paying jobs.”

The attacks represent a sharpening of Sanders’ tone as he comes off a string of six straight victories but heads into a more daunting challenge in Clinton’s home state of New York, where polls show him lagging behind and he faces tough media scrutiny from New York City’s unforgiving tabloids.

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At the Philadelphia rally Wednesday night, he first raised the issue of Clinton not being qualified to lead the country, citing donations to the super PAC supporting her.

“She has been saying lately that she thinks that I am, quote-unquote, not qualified to be president,” Sanders said. “Let me just say in response to Secretary Clinton, I don’t believe that she is qualified if she is, through her super PAC, taking tens of millions of dollars in special interest funds.”

He added: “I don’t think you are qualified if you have voted for the disastrous war in Iraq. I don’t think you are qualified if you supported the Panama free trade agreement.”

Clinton, who did not explicitly say Sanders was not qualified to be president, said Wednesday that he had not done his “homework” when it comes to Wall Street reform — his signature campaign issue. Sanders has been hit for offering vague responses to questions on the subject during an interview in New York with the Daily News’ editorial board this week.

The Clinton campaign pushed back against Sanders’ attack on her qualifications, calling it the mark of a desperate candidate. Brian Fallon, a spokesman for Clinton, called on the Vermont senator to take back his words and said he had reached a “new low.”

But Sanders showed no sign that he was planning to apologize at a news conference in Philadelphia on Thursday. While saying that he does respect Clinton, he continued to express doubts about her qualifications and made clear that he does not intend to hold back.

“If Secretary Clinton thinks that I just come from a small state of Vermont, ‘They are not used to this.’ Well, we will get used to it fast,” Sanders said. “I’m not going to get beaten up. I’m not going to get lied about. We will fight back.”

As her campaign sent out fundraising pitches highlighting Sanders’ remarks, Clinton tried to make light of the dispute as she rode the subway uptown in New York City on Thursday.

“Well it’s kind of a silly thing to say,” Clinton said. “But I’m going to trust the voters of New York who know me and have voted for me three times.”

And in a halfhearted endorsement of Sanders’ qualifications to be president, Clinton added that he was better than the Republicans who are running.

“I don’t know why he’s saying that. but I will take Bernie Sanders over Donald Trump or Ted Cruz anytime,” she said.